Our communities are made up of families and single people, living on farms or in homes. These families and single people make up a tribe. We work together, eat together, and teach our children together. It would be impossible to live this close and still get along if the Spirit of God was not helping us to love one another and to believe the same things.
"At that time," declares the LORD, "I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people." (Jeremiah 31:1)
This also makes a wonderful environment for other families and single people to be added to. In a world that is falling apart, we are staying together.
God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; (Psalm 68:6 NIV)
When our Creator is the God of our families, when fathers turn their hearts to their children, and when children turn their hearts to their parents, then the end of this age is near. So we feel that the restoration of families is very important to our Father's purpose for the Church.
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:5-6 NKJV)
Our marriages must rest on a solid foundation and not a faulty foundation. Marriage is not our invention to do with as we please. Our Father alone holds the royal patent on marriage and the family. So we as human beings are not given the authority to redefine or discard it in the event that it fails to suit us. Marriage is not the invention of a sociologist or psychologist, nor is it the product of a male-dominated culture seeking to oppress or oppose women, nor is it a force counteracting women’s liberation. It is the creation of the Sovereign Elohim. So again, marriage is not our invention to do with as we please. Marriage is the creation of our Father; it is something of great importance shared with every other created thing. It ultimately exists for our Creator and Father, and His glory. True marriage has our Father’s fingerprints on it, and our family has dignity.
We believe that the most important job on earth for the church is to train its children to enter the kingdom of heaven. In fact, we are guaranteed that the children will never depart from proper godly training if they are trained up in the way they should go (Pr 22:6). In other words, if a child is not properly trained, then the rest of his life will be misguided and miserable, lacking vitality, wholeness and truth. Therefore God has always instructed His people to bend every effort to train their children:
“so that you, your children, and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live. Impress these commands upon your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Dt 6:2,7).
We, as the followers of Yahshua, the Messiah, are held responsible to obey the whole Word of God, and it is in this obedience that we must take on the education of our own children (Pr 13:24). We cannot merely teach our children from 7 to 16 years of age, but we must diligently instruct and discipline our children from infancy until they can responsibly judge themselves. Our Father has provided the perfect environment for our children to be trained. That environment is the community where the order of God prevails under the good government of God.
In this environment our children are being trained according to God’s purpose on earth with concentric vision of how to accomplish this purpose. They, as vital parts of the community, are being prepared to attain to the highest goal possible in this life — to enter the kingdom of heaven.
The wonderful environment is our life together. We like to work together on farms or in our cottage industries. Like any family-owned business, our children help out with simple tasks, and also with farming and caring for our properties. There's no time to waste with video games, television, or smart phones. Instead, we work alongside our children, training them in diligence and kindness by our example and our words.
Children are homeschooled. We are continuing to develop apprenticeship programs for our youth. We have written our own curriculum and will continue to improve it. Our children receive an excellent and well-rounded education in a loving environment.
We have had many visitors drop in for a few hours or arrange for extended visits. More than just simply looking for helpers in exchange for accommodations, our guests are alongside us and learning with us the deeper things of life. Usually, we arrange visits of 1 or 2 days, but, if you are really enjoying the rhythm of our life, an extended stay can be discussed. Contact the community directly you'd like to visit. We hope you will come spend some time with us!
The Twelve Tribes is a confederation of twelve worldwide self-governing tribes, made up of self-governing communities. We are disciples of the Son of God (whose name in Hebrew is Yahshua). We follow the pattern of the early church written in Acts 2:44 and 4:32, sharing all things in common. We believe everything that is written in the Old and New Covenants of the Bible.